Japanese shares ended sharply lower as the
yen strengthened amid continuing global uncertainties and a report
showed Japanese machinery orders fell at the fastest pace in four months
in January.

The total value of core machinery orders in Japan
plunged a seasonally adjusted 5.4 percent in January, missing
expectations for a decline of 1.5 percent following the downwardly
revised 0.3 percent dip in December.

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial, Dai-ichi Life Holdings and
Nomura Holdings lost 1-3 percent after U.S. government debt yields fell
on tame inflation data.

Canon, Honda Motors and Panasonic
dropped 1-2 percent, while tech stocks such as Advantest and Sumco gave
up more than 2 percent. Shin-Etsu Chemical climbed 2.1 percent on share
buyback news.

Australian stocks fell for the fourth session in a
row as Brexit-related uncertainty weighed on the markets and a slide in
Westpac’s consumer confidence reinforced a deteriorating outlook for
the domestic economy.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index dipped
13.60 points or 0.2 percent to 6,161.20, while the broader All
Ordinaries index ended down 14.60 points or 0.2 percent at 6,246.

Banks
ended on a subdued note even as the government backed away from a
pledge to ban trailing commissions for mortgage brokers.

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Modupe Gbadeyanka is a fast-rising journalist with Business Post Nigeria. Her passion for journalism is amazing. She is willing to learn more with a view to becoming one of the best pen-pushers in Nigeria. Her role models are the duo of CNN's Richard Quest and Christiane Amanpour.

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